I hate finrot.

My entire family of guppies got finrot, so I treated them with lifeguard. it worked very well actually. But I have this one lyre tail guppy that keeps getting it and its driving me nuts. he will get it and I will treat him asap. then he recovers very quickly and always has great fin growth afterwards (more than all of the other guppies). but a few weeks and (even days later sometimes) hes got it again! what is up with that? the water parameters are fine and he is very energetic, even when he has finrot. actually, come to think of it hes never "acted" sick. its like he doesn't even know he is lol. any ideas on why this keeps happening?

oh also, his tail always gets torn, then heals, and gets torn again. at first I though it was the other fish but its not since they tore when I separated him from the others for a while.

 

He may not be sick.

As guppies get older they are much more prone to getting split fins. The conditions I am talking about is not finrot. It is just that they get older and their fins get more brittle and easy to tear. Guppies only live 2-3 years on average, so after about a year to year and a half they may begin to suffer from split fins.

 

I see, that may explain the torn fins. but that's strange because he is not that old yet. I got him when he was a baby and i've only had him for about 6 months now.

I know he definitely has finrot because the ends of his tail are shriveling and have white strings hanging off of them.

 

Are there other fish in the tank, and what size tank is it? What kind of waterchange schedule do you have?

Hopefully we will figure it out through all this Q&A.

 

He lives with 4 other guppies and 3 neon tetra in a ten gal. (I know I have 2 inches extra of fish) I do water changes weekly or sometimes biweekly depending on my schedule. I check the water parameters weekly. Everything is normal.

 

Often giving vitamins can help with fin repair. A lot of people use Vitachem when their fish get finrot (along with the meds) or split fins, or just on a daily basis. I have never used it myself but it seems to work well for others who have used it.

 

you might consider an aggressive attack on the finrot with a 10-day course of Triple Sulfa and Rid-Fungus. If you could also add VitaChem and/or Fish Protector (those 2 you might have to order online from DFS and Pet Mountain) it would prompt more fin regrowth. We've used this to knock out a very stubborn case of reoccuring finrot in our Betta, Aslan.

 

You and me both, Maggie. I HATE that horrible disease. It's so depressing.

 

"I hate finrot"

Yeah. Me too.

 

yea I think I'm gonna try out vitachem and see what happens. and if that doesn't work ill bust out the big guns with the Triple Sulfa and Rid-Fungus.

he is doing well though so that's always a plus hes a feisty little guy.

 

best of luck with him! ;D